


Scales and Teeth and A Kingdom Razed To Ash

by DeathDirt



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Dragon!Doomfist, Dragon!Gabriel, Dragon!Genji - Freeform, Dragon!Hanzo, Dragon!Sombra, Dragons, Fighting dragons, Multi, Talon as a dragon clan, Torture, Violence Warning, comfort lover Doomfist, dragon!AU, dragon!Jack, dragon!McCree, its bout to get serious, noodle!Shimadas, nosy Sombra also, sorry hanzo, wizard Ana, wizard!Mercy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-12-03 20:43:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11540097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathDirt/pseuds/DeathDirt
Summary: Dragons. That's just it. Lots of dragons.





	1. Death On The Wing

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Mercifuldoc's Beautiful Overwatch Dragons](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/308529) by mercifuldoc.tumblr.com. 



> Shameless dragon AU because I can't make anything short. Oh well. Take some...weird...dragon/fantasy AU stuff that will probably be lots of one-shots of varying caliber. I am so sorry. I will tag this as I write the one-shots, but this is kind of a lot of world-building and fiddling with dragons because everybody loves dragons and dragons are fucking awesome.
> 
> Also, word of note, this is less quote-unquote "realism" (like explaining mermaids evolved from humans and their siren-like qualities of luring men to the sea is an evolution that's more for mermaids communicating with each other) and more magic and monsters and...D&D-like stuff.
> 
> So magic dragons. They shapeshift. And I might do some drawings along with these just to help with visualization I guess.

"If you'd stop aggravating the spell by using your own magic all the time, you wouldn't have to keep coming back to get it recharged." The massive blue lowly grumbled to himself as he waited, head resting between his claws, while the elder wizard performed her task. She was the only one who spoke draconian for leagues, and an old friend, so the old reptile had almost no choice but to come to her. He didn't mind much, but the conversation was...less than pleasing. "It's necessary, Ana," he rumbled, hot breath blowing over the small table behind the wizard to rock the delicate vials. The old woman was more of a medical alchemist than a proper wizard, but she did her job well.

"Do not give me that, Jack. You aren't as young as you once were. You need to stop using your magic. Not indefinitely, but if you don't, your eyes will never heal." _Some days I wonder if I want them to..._ The spell or serum or whatever that Ana gave him for his sight made his normally crystal blue eyes brilliantly crimson, to the point that he was called Bloodsight in some places. Those that knew of him. Though he was a big male, Jack knew how to keep a low profile. 

Travel by night, sparing use of breath, and don't stay in any one place for more than a week.

Impatient, the drake raised one claw and uselessly scratched at his splintered slate-grey horn. Here and there it was a terrible itch that would make him scratch at the adornment until his skin was rubbed off, pink and raw for weeks. It was an old wound, and it would likely never heal. The old dragon had accepted that a long time ago. 

Accepted a lot of things, since he had time to think of it. Accepted that his life as the well-renowned Drake of the North was little more than a fantasy, that the people he'd grown to know as his family regarded him now as little more than a memory, that the ones who knew he was alive would never see him as he once was, that his life was reduced to little more than head-hunting... Jack had accepted that nothing would fix him or the burden he beared. That he'd allowed an entire kingdom to be razed to ash, simply because he hadn't paid attention to the pieces falling around him. 

Ana knew the look in the dragon's eyes. She didn't like being completely powerless to stop him when he got into these trains of thought, but he had always possessed a stubborn streak. No matter what she did, Jack would always be the same. Fixated on past mistakes he couldn't fix and blaming himself for it. Maybe it was harsh to think him childish for it, yet Ana chided him every time he tried to bring up Zurich.

For a while, the wizard worked in silence, mixing her herbs and delicately measuring potions and serums and whatever manner of miracle she had brewing next. Jack wanted to be back out in action, working his way through the damned dragon clan Talon that was bent on proving that the world was theirs. It was all he was good for nowadays. Nobody could really say he was bad at it, though. The few times he worked with someone else - occasionally Ana or, if he was feeling desperate for backup, he could call on Jesse, another dragon who had a bit of flair even though he was one of the most hunted drakes the world knew of - they mostly stayed out of his way and allowed Jack to work. He was a hardened fighter, knew exactly what he was doing, and had become almost remorseless in his killing. He still maintained some standards - he didn't kill younglings, nor did he kill humans if he could help it - but when he killed, he was entirely unaffected.

Ana waved her hand, crimson waves flowing forward from it to settle on Jack's eyes. "There you go Jack. Recharged. Do you need anything else before you go?"

"No. I need to get moving again." The dragon shook his head, rising up on all fours and stretching his wings out. "Apparently there's a bounty on me now." Ana hid a laugh behind her hand. "Apparently? Jack, that bounty's been on your head for almost a decade now."

"A...decade?"

"Since you began your head-hunting. Don't feel too bad, old lizard. We all get tired." Jack huffed a laugh, lowering his snout to give a friendly bump. "Tired, but not dead yet." Ana patted the broad muzzle affectionately before giving him a poke between the eyes. "Never, Jack." The drake huffed again, allowing the old wizard to climb over his forehead to rest on his neck. She'd insisted on coming with him between his hunting, so he obliged. This cave that Ana had commandeered was hidden well enough that she didn't have any qualms about leaving it behind for weeks or months at a time.

At the mouth of the cave, Jack lowered his snout to the bare ground and took his time in picking up any possible scents waiting outside. Maybe it was old age, but he was a paranoid bastard. He had to be sure of everything. Smelling nothing, he continued out, careful to keep his claws off the ground to avoid gouging the soft earth.

Rain pattered down gently from the dark sky above. Jack almost felt calm with the constant thrum of noise around him, though he constantly had to blink with his third eyelid to keep the rain from getting into his eyes. Spring was usually full of rainy days, which made for good travel. Most people didn't dare to be caught outside in a storm, so he could fly where he needed without having to wait for nightfall.

The drake had only taken a few steps before fire exploded through his hind leg. Jack roared, whipping quickly to snap at the offender. The black. Reaper. Of course it was him.

He released his death-grip on Jack's leg immediately, backing a step only to pounce over the blue's back. His wicked sable claws latched into Jack's thick hide, tearing into the skin as if it were no more than a sapling. Jack snapped viciously at the attacker, unable to land a blow. Growling, Jack let out a jet of ice at the black drake, shocking him enough for his grip to loosen and for the blue to throw him off. The black rolled, coming back onto all fours without missing a beat. "Long time no see, Jackie," he rumbled, shaking off the frost that had been shot onto his flank. Jack glared, wishing he could stomp the...monster in front of him out like a bad dream. 

"Too good to talk to me now, snowflake?"

"No, too disgusted."

"You flatter me, Jackie. Unfortunately, a _corpse_ is a little higher quality than me. Thanks to you two."

Jack growled low, turning to better shield Ana, still clutching to the spikes ridging his neck. Death hadn't proven to be good at catching him or Ana before. Now, with black skin and a bone mask and wings, it had come closer. But still no luck. "What are we waiting for, Jackie? I'm seeing red." Reaper dug his claws into the soft earth beneath him, churning the soil. Jack wanted to run, he wanted to fight, he wanted to kill, he wanted to hide. He wanted to see Reaper gone. The blue growled; all it was was a pitiful attempt at posturing to try scaring off the black, flimsy and pathetic. It didn't work in the slightest, as expected.

Reaper laughed. Damn him, he laughed, exactly like he used to. "All roar and no bite, Jack. Isn't that just like you?" Jack sprang forward, clamping his jaws tight onto Reaper's shoulder. In kind, the black sunk his fangs into the meat of Jack's neck, ripping flesh from the bone. Blood flowed into Jack's mouth that wasn't Reaper's but he didn't care. He sunk his claws into the dirt and braced himself, holding fast against Reaper's assault. Ana balanced precariously on his brow, working the wounds closed as well as she could, though Reaper was biting them back open as fast as she could close them.

Finally, the crunch of bone signalled Reaper's body giving in to Jack's jaws. Unsure of how much it would hurt or help, Jack jetted ice into the skin his mouth covered. The cold made Reaper bellow into the indifferent gray skies. He rammed his head into Jack's skull, connecting to the blue's temple and knocking him into a momentary daze. 

The black leaped, knocking Jack over, then pushing off the felled drake to take off. Ice coated his left shoulder, edged with red. Jack shook himself off. The gaping bite wound in his neck was closing up, thanks to both Ana's and his own magic, and Jack thanked heaven and hell both that he was an oddly blessed dragon. Ana had taken shelter behind a cluster of thick pines, casting her spells from a distance. The dragon lumbered over, falling heavily to the wet ground and sending up a spray of mud, blood, water, and dirt.

"You wanted to leave?"

"Ana, please..."


	2. Flash Bangs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be perfectly honest, I picture Hanzo and Genji dragons as looking mostly like their respective dragons but Hanzo's just one (obvs), Hanzo has a black mane that goes from the crown of his head to the tip of his tail and Genji as a green with the same black (though maybe not super pitch black) mane but super scarred up, for one thing, and with a lot of armor on him.

Loud banging echoed throughout the cave. Hanzo was at the end of his rope with Jesse and this stupid cold. "Jesse! For the last time, enough with this." The serpentine-like dragon grumbled as he rested his head between his claws once again. "I told you not to hunt in the rain..." 

The sandy-scaled drake huffed, sniffling again before he resumed his pacing. "Well darlin', can't exactly keep three big drakes like us happy by huntin' once a week or two. Gotta get three times the food, so I gotta do three times the huntin'." Hanzo hums, dark eyes flicking to the cave mouth. Genji was supposed to be back any moment. He'd left a few days ago to try to find a healer to cure Jesse before Hanzo killed him, checking in occasionally with his sapphire brother with bouts of telepathy when he could. It made the elder uneasy to leave his brother to his own devices for even as little as a handful of days.

Another small explosion as Jesse sneezed again. The sound and resulting echo made Hanzo wince, but he would endure it. After everything he'd dealt with just to get to this point, with Genji no longer bugging him about seeing Jesse, meeting him, living with him, there was no way he would just leave now. On top of that, though, Hanzo felt that perhaps...Jesse had grown on him.

Yes, he was a simple western dragon, but that was almost every drake here. Jesse had a bit of dramatic flare. His horns and spikes were all the color of freshly turned soil, eyes following suit but with much more life. His scales were all a similar dusty sand color, though he was missing his left forelimb, instead replaced with an iron prosthetic that he claimed had been made by a dwarf (which Genji and Hanzo both usually brushed him off for, dwarves were barely heard of, if not complete hoaxes). 

One of his many quirks was his insistence on keeping his shoulders, back, and belly covered in red clay. Genji said that it was because he was self-conscious of the scars that littered his body, but Hanzo was doubtful. He'd yet to ask though... Another of his funny pieces to his personality was his breath. Dragons, from the west at least, typically had different breaths depending on genetics and all that, with the most common being a jet of fire. Jesse, however, let out a blast of sound and light, and it was usually enough time to stun anything, from a battalion of human soldiers to an enemy drake, long enough for him to finish it off.

Interesting now, since he was complaining about hunting.

Hanzo huffed a sigh, debating on napping again when Genji flew through the cave mouth. "I found someone!" He smelled like a veritable pig sty, which was a good indicator of what he'd done to find this healer. Hanzo raised himself on his four stout limbs, growling out, "You shifted into a human to find this healer. Do they understand that they will-"

"Be treating a dragon? Yes, _anija_ , yes, she knows. It's someone Jesse and I know." The leaf green scales rippled as Genji tossed his head, meaning he was rolling his eyes, and Hanzo nipped at his brother's tail. "Hey!" The sapphire _ryu_ huffed, resting his cheek on his crossed claws. Jesse finally noticed the scarred green dragon and rumbled a greeting. "It go well, Genj?"

"Of course it did. I found Mercy." Jesse brightened considerably, waiting for Genji to curl around his thick neck (as was the custom) before asking for details. "Can't believe ya found Ziegler. How's she doin', anyhow? Was thinkin' you'd bring th' monk ya found instead." The _ryu_ hummed in a noncommittal reply. Jesse loved how much more elegant the two _ryu_ were with their noises. Instead of rough and gravelly growls and grumbles - even if Hanzo grumbled a lot - they were much more sohpisticated hums.

With the extra weight around his neck, Jesse finally settled down on his faded-red belly after pacing for nearly hours. "I would have brought my master if I had been unable to find another. But, I have told you how he wanders. It could have taken weeks to track him down and bring him here." Jesse made a hiccoughing laugh at his friend, giving a friendly squeeze with his chin. "It ain't no trouble. I could probably just muscle my way through this if I really had ta. 'Cept then Hanners would be none too pleased with me. Can't have that, y'know?" Genji chuckled in reply and slid his head up the westerner's neck to settle atop his forehead. 

"No, you cannot. Hanzo is moody when he does not have what he wants."

"Genji."

"He ain't wrong darlin'."

"Jesse..." Both younger drakes laughed themselves to fitful sleep. 

Hanzo watched as they went from laughing themselves breathless to soft witty banter, finally to calm and sleep. Jesse hadn't slept in almost four days because of this cold. Without either of the young drakes noticing, the sapphire _ryu_ slipped out of the cave, only to return a few hours later with a bloodied but intact buck clutched in his jaws. He dropped it a few feet away from Jesse and Genji, both peacefully dozing. Not bothering to return to the air, Hanzo clambered up the craggy surface of the cave to his perch and laid himself out on the rock to nap once more.

"Thank ya kindly, darlin'." Hanzo's head shot up, staring straight at Jesse. He looked entirely asleep except for the giant grin on his face. "Shouldn't do it too much though, 'r else ya gonna make me _wanna_ get sick. That'd be mighty cruel, wouldn't it?" The drake huffed, shaking the dirt from his black mane to shower the sandy scales below him. Jesse just laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guessed that the dwarf was Torbjorn...
> 
> You are correct.


	3. Happy Anniversary Of Your Death, Jack...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and feelsy, R76 but more focused on the dragon!verse version of Zurich's bombing. Also touching on the shapeshifting aspect of the dragons in dragon!verse.

The ruins were too familiar. It ached, coming back here, but the massive blue owed it to every last innocent, every last dragon, human, and animal that had been lost in the blaze. Despite being given ten years for vines to creep up the crumbling walls, the scorch marks were vivid in the moonlight. 

Jack can hear the screaming. It shakes him to his core, but he can hear them. Each and every one of them, he can hear their last cries of desperation as they perish. 

It's changed him.

Before the city of Zurich was burned to ash, Jack was a proud drake, young and strong, both in body and will. He didn't think twice about giving a local healer scales or horn sheds or tears if they needed them. Didn't care about throwing himself into the heat of battle as an orc battalion rushed the clumps of farmers settled around the city. He'd been brave, strong-willed, selfless to a fault. And some people in the city _did_ fault him for it. At first, it didn't matter. Petty nobles who scorned the protection the entire city was given because they did not have to perish in the throes of battle.

Then the city was attacked. Nobody knew how. Nobody knew why. Everybody blamed Gabriel for it. Jack was scarred beyond hope of repair; not only did the attack leave him mutilated, but he simply couldn't stomach that his own second, a drake nearly everybody in their little dragon clan considered as his mate since he showed absolutely no interest in anyone else, would have facillitated this devastation. Yet he knew it to be true.

And being truthful with himself, Jack only came back because he missed the black drake. Many didn't think him likable because he spoke roughly, didn't care about speaking his mind brazenly, and had a habit of pushing those around him to the edge of their patience. Jack knew him otherwise. And...maybe it wasn't because he owed the innocents who died. 

Perhaps it was because he owed the black for keeping his eyes open for so many years.

 _Gabriel would be disappointed_ , Jack thought as he dropped to the ground, fighting the smell of smoke from someone's camp close by. Unlike years past, the blue thought this rather blandly, as if he was simply commenting on the state of the young wood growing around the ruined city. Indifferent. He snuffled through the falling blocks for a moment before laying himself down, head resting on his claws and tail curled around his body.

He didn't notice or care the swirl of black that pushed off eddies of fog as it approached. He didn't care when a thick paw pressed into his neck, just under the base of his head. Apparently Reaper didn't appreciate the lack of attention. "You seem to like the company of death."

"Good reminder," Jack grunted, eyes slipping shut. Never again. Never again would he fight on this ground. Reaper wouldn't change that, no matter what he did. "Of how bullheaded you are?" The black teased, predatory teeth bared in a nasty imitation of a grin. "No. What I need to pay for." The awkward grin disappeared from the drake. In his head, he wanted to call the blue a pathetic wretch of who he used to be. He was. But the same could be said of Reaper. A dark, twisted facsimile of who he once was. More dead than alive, and yet not quite there.

Claws pressed into the blue's neck. He expected Reaper to bite any moment now. Let him. Jack knew he deserved worse, but if Reaper was done playing games, so be it. Instead of a killing snap, Reaper pushed off the blue, circling around to rest on his haunches in front of the scarred drake. 

Behind the skull mask (he only wore the proper skull it was based off of when he needed a little more intimdation from all the dried blood and viscera on it), his red eyes narrowed. Drake of the North, alright. Wallowing in his own pity for a city he owed absolutely nothing. Damn goldhearted dragon. "If you're going to expose yourself," Reaper growled, mildly agitated from absolutely nothing, "why not at least make yourself a smaller target?" Jack huffed. He was older, magic was a little more draining, but shapeshifting was never exactly difficult. The question was if he really wanted to do it.

It'd probably get him killed if he did... Huffing, Jack pushed himself into a smaller body. The process itself was infinitely more complicated, joints painfully snapping and popping, bones compressing, thinning, skin bubbling, until he was nothing but a shivering human curled on the ground. Jack could remember when he loved shifting between human and dragon. It was such a different experience, down on the ground among all the other humans, he was simultaneously vulnerable and invincible. And it felt amazing to give a weather-worn shopkeeper an enormous bag of gold for something as small as a piece of fruit or a well-made but slightly dirtied fur cloak. Now shifting was more stress on his bones that he didn't need unless Talon started getting too hot on his trail.

But he didn't want to argue with Reaper over this silly whim. What was the point of it? If he wanted a fight, he could go find someone who had the capacity to care at the moment.

The black drake watched the blue shrink down to his human form and wondered, not for the first time, how he'd managed to stay alive. Injuries were more prone to showing on his human form because of the fragile nature of it. And they made the ugliest crisscross all over Jack's pale human skin. _Has he always been_ this _pale?_ Reaper wonders briefly. 

For whatever reason he remembers Jack being more...tan? Was that the right word? Maybe lifelike. As he was now, he looked more like a fresh human corpse. Pale skin, snow white hair messily tossed around on his head, crossed with so many scars that they seem more natural than his actual skin. Funny. Reaper recalls that Jack would fuss for hours over any scars or marks that clothing wouldn't hide so that he could wander around in Zurich without worrying about getting recognized.

A long few hours pass. Jack can't find sleep - he's never been great at it - so the black makes no move. 

Finally, the shifted drake's chest rises in a steady rhythm. He's finally gone to sleep. Reaper slides onto his belly, left forelimb sheltering Jack from the elements without touching him. 

_I'm sorry, Jack. Just wait a bit longer. I'm almost there... Just a little longer._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blizzard gives us so few details on the story of Overwatch that I can and will take liberties when they create opportunities for my little gay heart. So. Y'know. Fuckin story.


	4. In Too Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Call it what you want, polyamory, cheating, whatever. I will write this shit for days.

"Well, well, if it isn't big bad Gabe back from his homecoming party."

"Shut up, Sombra. I've had enough bullshit _without_ you on my back for twelve hours..." Sombra chuckled, watching from her high perch as Gabriel crept in along the wall, features concealed by a dark cloak. He always came back to the colony's hive in his human form after his dealings with the big blue, Bloodsight. The neon violet drake would always tease him for it, even if somewhere in the back of her head she had quite the respect for him. Perhaps even sympathy. Demonic blood oozed under his skin, thrust upon him by Talon after the destruction of Zurich, and even demons themselves called their existences pitiable at best.

It was a shame that such a great dragon had been broken down by it. Sombra sighed, crawling down from her position to annoy Gabe by following him. She did it with everyone but with Gabriel more than anyone else. It wasn't her fault, he was such an enabler! He got so pissed off when she called him his old name, how could Sombra help herself?

"Did you two talk?" Gabe looked up at her, glared really, but unfortunately his evil eye - _eyes_ \- didn't work on her. The violet giggled, flapping her sharply-angled wings to blow him around in his vulnerable form. He growled. Other than echoing the same as if he were full size, it did nothing.

Sombra was always poking him about this and the other thing. It was what she did; an info rat was all she was, yet Talon decided they needed her full time for...whatever.

It wasn't Gabriel's business, whatever it was. He was hired muscle. That's all he was to Talon, that's all they were to him. If he had a choice, Gabe would've been gone in a heartbeat, slamming headfirst into Jesse and Genji and holding them down until he could convince them he wasn't mentally insane and/or traumatized beyond repair. As it was, he wouldn't be doing that for another - what? Ten, twenty years? Talon, despite being nothing more than an organized colony, was a _well_ -organized colony. There was no set leader, no higher-up, no suit, not even a figurehead. Just as one supposed link in the chain broke, more were there to take its place. Years of brutalizing enemies from the inside made Gabe good at finding weak links in the chain of command.

Talon was different; they had no weak links.

Some nights, it might've driven the black to the brink of insanity. That's what it was doing to him now. Thinking of how all this trouble was oing to waste. All the deception going to waste. All the pain going to waste. All the time. All the hurt. All the heartbreak. Down the hole.

Now, it was worse. He'd just allowed himself a few hours of vulnerability, laying there with Jack in the cold winter morning just so he wouldn't freeze to death. The urge to snap up his weak, pale human body was strong, enforced by the demonic blood forced into him. Through sheer force of will, like most things he did these days, he refrained from doing so. God, he wanted it all out. He'd been keeping an eye on Mercy and Ana for a while, hoping to corner them and make them take the demon blood out of him, make him how he used to be.

All he wanted was to wake up from this nightmare. 

Sombra was nudging him with her angular snout, threatening to tip him over. "Hey, Gabe, you all here? Gaaabe, hellooo?" The black snapped his human head towards Sombra, hissing as he shoved her nosy snout away from him. "Leave me the hell alone."

"Aw, Gabe, you know I can't do that. You're too much fun." When the softly bantering drakes turned into the colony's deeper caverns, a pair of bright amber eyes tracked them for a few feet before the owner made himself known.

"Gabriel. Where have you gone?" In human form, the black flinched as the slight echo of his recent mate's reached his ears. Usually, coming back from a night of prowling was met with stony silence that Gabriel found quite comforting. Though Sombra hadn't exactly helped in that area. 

Her neon scales shook as she fought to contain her laughter; Gabe looked like a hatchling with his snout in an eagle's nest. "I'll leave you two to have your fun, then. See you later." Akande didn't take his eyes off of Gabriel's human body as the female slinked away, watching while the black shuffled to him and slumped against the inside of his claws. The large drake rested his chin lightly on his mate's hooded head, which he knew annoyed Gabriel. "Not now," he rasped, ducking lower to avoid the affectionate gesture. "Why not now? If I recall correctly, you tend to be the one to initiate these softer moments. Yes?" 

"Damn you and your _flawless_ logic." Gabe leaned back to rest against the wide scales of Akande's chest. The warmth settled in those plates made the omnipresent pain that much more bearable. Everything the fearsome and awe-inspiring Doomscale did made him feel more alive. More...mortal. 

It honestly wasn't meant to turn out like this. It was supposed to be another facet of the infiltration and take-down of Talon. A classic tactic, tried and true - sweeten up the big boss, or someone close to him, then shatter his skull in the dead of night. This little game of poor little experiment in so much pain, in need of some big, strong leader to help him through the night. But it's gone too far, now. Gabriel couldn't go to sleep at night and tell himself that he was still entirely detached from Akande. He'd accepted that Jack would likely never take him back, probably never even consider him in a decent light, which he thought meant he'd never get anybody else. Yet here he was sitting between two massive paws in one of his most vulnerable states. 

"My logic is flawless because you don't seem to use your beautiful mind, Gabriel," the male commented as he rested his head beside the black's human form. Gabe huffed, shifting to lean on Akande's head. On the battlefield, he could destroy entire cities if he so desired, but here, he was so surprisingly gentle. It had made Gabriel reconsider if he wanted to try to seduce the massive drake at all, given how differently his behavior was on and off the battlefield. He was still here, though. Still wandering back after every little routine surveillance to his big, strong Akande. In his defense though, the drake was an excellent lover. "Not much of it left to use," Gabriel grunted out. Some days his mind slipped into black, and he'd wake to a massacre. The two were eerily silent for a few long moments, until Akande decides to break it.

"Has it been troubling you again?"

"Not badly. Just... It's fucking aggravating. Same as always."

"I am sorry I cannot help you any more than this." Akande shifted his paw to lay over the black, which he accepted gratefully by nuzzling into the thick pad. "It's not your fault."

"I could have prevented it."

"And I'd be dead."

"I think we both would have preferred you die in peace than live in this agony." 

"You know, you get poetic when I start moaning to you." Akande snorted, shifting his snout to rub on Gabriel's tender flank. "I like to think you appreciate the delicate words." 

He did. Gabe would never say so, though.


	5. Partner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will preface this by saying:
> 
> I'm sorry Hanzo. You were the most vulnerable. I still love you bby :,)

Gabriel stomped through the tunnels, followed closely - and silently - by Akande. His tail lashed back and forth in silent rage as he is herded to the back of the hive, tucking himself into a far crevice. "Cannot fucking believe you," Gabriel growls, curling his body away from the opening. "Gabriel, you are-"

"Yes, yes, being totally _fucking_ unreasonable! Because relegating me back here is going to do jack shit!" Gabriel growls low in his chest, and if Akande didn't know him as well as he did, he would've taken it as a challenge. But he did know better. He knew Gabriel didn't like being stuck in the hive for too long, that it drove him crazy with all the demon colonies living so close.  
At the same time, however, he didn't feel like risking his mate while his demonic side was acting up. It wasn't just a danger to those around him, it endangered Gabriel as well. Demons thrived on chaos, and as soon as it took over, the colony would be reactively scrambling to restrain the black drake, only serving to give more fuel to the demon-rage. 

But this isn't the first time Akande's had to deal with this. And this certainly isn't the most violent and resistant Gabriel's ever been, either. So the larger drake is happy enough with the result - a furiously grumbling Gabriel growling into a far pocket of the hive. Akande sighs, lowering his head to gently bump it against his mate's flank. "I am sorry, Gabriel. If I could avoid this, I would." Gabriel tries to ignore him, muttering something that sounded like "Like hell you would..." Akande sighed again, raising his head back up. Though the black can't see it, his bright amber eyes are filled with a swirl of regret and sorrow. He hates this. That he has to do this. But it's the best thing to do for Gabriel and the colony.

From a higher crevice, black eyes flash with epiphany as the earthen-scaled drake turns to go out, leaving the black entirely alone. Perhaps there's some way in after all...

\----------

"Why am I getting a partner?" Gabriel growls, spitting out the word 'partner' like it killed his ancestors and his first clutch. In ways, it had. But that was not the point. Akande had been attempting to reach the _ryu_ for several months, and now that he finally had gotten a response - a positive one at that - he didn't want to leave him to his own devices just yet. On top of that, he wanted someone to trust with his mate. He could've simply asked for Amelie to do it, but she was unreliable at best, similarly to Sombra. This way, he could pass it off as a test of some kind to the eastern dragon. Not that it was likely he'd fall for the ruse, but still... Better than nothing.

Akande remained silent while he led Gabriel to the mouth of the hive, where he'd asked the _ryu_ to wait. There was an obvious incitement to Gabriel's question, meant to rile him and make him lash out. It was Gabriel's method of deflecting his own mood to others. Make the rage someone else's, then release his frustrations. It worked on most others. Not Akande, though the black still tried.

At the cave mouth, the sapphire _ryu_ was patiently waiting, curled into a spiral mound on a rocky protrusion at the cave mouth. Gabriel sneered at his pretentious indifference, already convinced he wouldn't get along with whoever he was. "Hanzo!" Akande called up, "I have brought my second! He is who you will work with." Hanzo uncoiled, slowly crawling from the high outcropping to the ground floor with the grace of a panther. Although it hurt his pride not to be at eye level with the other two, Hanzo decided it might be better, judging from the black's initial response to him, to at least appear submissive and obedient. "At your service," he greets, arching his back in the best form of a bow he can manage. From their cave, Jesse bombards him with constant worry, which Hanzo telepathically growls at him to stop doing. Distracting enough to keep himself in check, he didn't need to keep Jesse under control as well.

"Fuck off," Gabriel mutters, turning to slink back into the hive, head held low. Hanzo's own head snapped up. He didn't expect them to be exactly warm and welcoming, but after all the constant urging for him to join, he certainly didn't expect this. Akande quickly followed after, blocking Gabriel from going any further. He glared, though all it did was make the black huff and go around the larger dragon. Akande growls now, and snaps, biting Gabriel's haunch. The black whips around, snarling with his teeth bared as he faces Akande. As he attempts to push forward, Hanzo slips between them, coiling around Gabe's forelimb and neck to prevent him from going any further. His stout limbs and thick claws dig into the meat of Gabriel's back, which is enough to draw his attention away from his mate to instead snap his jaws at Hanzo. The _ryu_ fluidly moves out of range, keeping a steady gaze fixed onto Gabriel's angrily flashing red irises. 

A moment later, the black eases back, head turned away. He cranes his neck to look at where he'd been bitten, but Akande is already there, gently licking the wound in apology. Gabriel grumbled a sigh, gave a quick lick to Akande's neck, a reluctantly mumbled "Sorry," then motioned for Hanzo to follow him out of the tunnels. The _ryu_ silently followed, keeping a safe distance from the larger drake. He'd not been able to get much information from Jesse about the black - it was clear that whatever had happened between them had been ultimately traumatic and damaging to Jesse - but what he had been able to get was already proven, which was his short temper. 

It didn't help much, but at least it was something to keep in mind. "Should I be aware of what our objective is?" Hanzo asked, appearing nonchalant though he was rather concerned. Talon was known to be incredibly violent in its destruction, and usually that wouldn't be a concern, but Hanzo intended to make frequent checks on Jesse and Genji to make sure they didn't completely skin themselves with worry. Despite being the eldest of the three, it seemed that Jesse and Genji were the ones vying for most maternal member of their little trio. They had bombarded the sapphire dragon with every reason and excuse they could fabricate to implore him to stay, but Hanzo had been asked to infiltrate Talon by the slowly rebuilding Overwatch colony. It wasn't exactly something he'd been raring to do at first. 

The night before he was set to leave, however, Jesse had wandered in from a trip to the nearby city of Gatewater, stumbling from what seemed to be a night of heavy drinking, and practically bared his heart to how he felt about the black known as Reaper. Nothing _about_ Reaper himself, of course, but that really wasn't what Hanzo expected after one of Jesse's stints at the local pub. Jesse always got emotional when he got drunk, so Hanzo had expected him to come blubbering about how he didn't want him to go, he didn't know what he'd do without his Hanners, all that. Instead, the sandy-scaled drake had pleaded with the _ryu_ not to hurt the black, that he was worth saving if he could. Sure, Hanzo was and could be a cold-hearted killer at heart, but when he had Jesse falling all over him in tears to not "do nothin' to him if you don't gotta Han, please, jus' don' do nothin' that'll hurt 'im much, don' wanna hafta bury two of ya, don' even wan'cha t' go but please Han, please," he couldn't help but feel as though he needed to try all he could to get close to the black drake. 

Even if it was just for Jesse.

"It's nothing serious. Go look out for Overwatch colony sympathizers. The active ones," Gabriel clarified, stretching his wings out for flight. "A couple in particular, actually. Mage called Mercy, little draka that calls herself Tracer, and a big male named Jesse." Hanzo's hearts hammered in his throat. If they were targeting Jesse, they probably knew about himself and Genji as well, and suddenly Hanzo is aware that this might not go as well as he thought. "Plus a couple of _ryu_ from the east," Gabriel rumbles, eyes flashing hungrily towards Hanzo. "Brothers. But you know that already, don't you?"

"And if I know? What then?" Hanzo slowly tenses his body in a steady wave. There's a fight upon him, and it couldn't be any clearer. "If you don't know, you're the most idiotic dragon I've ever seen," Gabriel growled. "And unless you'd rather take their place, I'd suggest you tell me where they're hiding." Hanzo rasped out a low hiss, true to his serpentine appearance, teeth bared. Reaper mimicked the display, lips peeled back in a snarl. "As if I would care more for myself than my brother." That's not really why he won't tell, but Reaper doesn't know that. He seems to see right through it, though, one corner of his mouth pulling in the best sight of a malicious grin he could manage. "I see how it's going to be then. If you're so determined to keep their location secret..." 

Gabriel lunged, pouncing onto Hanzo's sinewy back. He thrashes to escape, but Gabriel's claws dig deep into his flesh, rending flesh from bone. Then his teeth sink into Hanzo's neck, and the _ryu_ roars his pain to the open sky. His sapphire scales and electric blue marks are now marred with pink and red and burgundy. And Gabriel is just having the time of his life, biting massive hunks of flesh from the male's back while keeping himself firmly in position with locked claws. The sensation of bones scraping on his claws is invigorating. 

Akande was right. This was exactly the partner he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeppppp, I was originally gonna write this to be Hanzo gettin' close to Gabe and teaching him to be a Good Boy again but midway through I realized that's not what FANFICTION is about. It's about hurting your favorite characters in increasingly horrible ways. And I haven't done that in a while, soooo... 
> 
> Also, once more, I am sorry to Hanzo and all you Hanzo fans. Jesse too, poor boi.


	6. New Friend...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because sudden inspiration is sudden
> 
> And also next chapter is gonna be very not happy

Jesse was restless, and in truth, Genji was as well. But there was some kind of relief for him in his meditation. A day or so ago, he'd gotten a simple message from his master that he'd soon arrive, which almost made up for the fact that he was worried about Hanzo. His brother had promised to check in with them every three days, and it'd been five without sight or sound of him. There were only so many dragons that could be guarding his brother at one time. He'd be around soon. Hanzo was too uptight to let a promise go unfulfilled for long.

Jesse, however, had been pacing almost nonstop for three of the five days since Hanzo's departure. He definitely made no secret of how much he loved the sapphire dragon, despite it being Genji's brother, and all three of them living together, though if anything, Genji had supposed that that would make Jesse less prone to worrying rather than more. Clearly not.

"What if they caught ont' him, Genj? They wouldn't let 'im leave if they thought he was one'a them. They wouldn't, y'know _he_ wouldn't, and he's one of the highest ones in Talon. What if they don' let him leave? What if I'm goin' fuckin' crazy for nothin'?!"

"Jesse, do you know what the recurring theme of your worries are? What if." Genji sighed, settling himself a little deeper between Jesse's shoulders. "It does no good to ask what could happen instead of asking what you know has happened."

"I hear my own teachings are being spread. Am I no longer needed?" The metallic voice was edged with amusement, and Genji quickly rose up, darting to the cave mouth to greet the stone-gray drake. "Welcome, master. I was just advising my friend as I thought you might." The dragon chuckled, softly padding into the cave. "I see. I cannot rightly say if it is the right decision for you to do so, but I commend you on your delivery, student." Genji beamed with the praise, softly humming his appreciation. Jesse huffed. "Yeah, but it don't help me none," he grumbled as he moved by the monk to the cave mouth. He peered out, hoping for any sign of the other _ryu_ to come streaking back, but nothing came. 

"It may yet, young one. May I have your name?" Jesse pretended not to hear. He knew it was disrespectful, and under normal circumstances, he'd have responded courteously. Hanzo's absence was grating on him. "Jesse. Name's Jesse," he muttered, flopping down at the cave mouth. His dark eyes searched the skies for the familiar line of blue to appear, yet still nothing. "Jesse, then, I would like for you to describe to me what has gone wrong." Zenyatta patiently rested back on his haunches alongside Jesse as he waited for the answer. Genji itches to answer, if only to be rid of the odd tension Jesse holds on his body. 

"It's nothin'," Jesse sighs, laying his head between his paws. "Bein' a total nervous wreck for nothin' I guess."

\----------

"You're getting more creative," Gabriel taunts, pushing his snout roughly against the _ryu_ 's human form. His head whips around, face contorted with pain and rage, to which Gabriel is indifferent to. He grabs Hanzo by his thick head of black hair to deposit him in the little hole that'd been designated to him. Unlike most of the other hollows and crevices the Talon drakes slept in, this one was shallow, without an open far wall, so in his human form, the _ryu_ could only hope to attempt to scale downward if he wanted to escape. Not likely in his state, still bloody and weak.

Gabriel roughly tossed him into the crevice, grinning at his pained groan after rolling to a stop. "Just not any smarter," he smugly added before pushing away to leave. Hanzo growled anyway, though it is short-lived; he curls in himself, too tired to snipe back. The wounds have attempted to close, but five days of no food, little water, and escape attempts have done nothing to help them heal. They have only reduced to dark red marks on the pale skin of Hanzo's human form. He'd thought that shifting into the smaller body would help him escape, but so far, it'd just made Gabriel put him in high spots after being caught.

Everything felt grimy and disgusting. Before, when Hanzo was used to changing from human to dragon as often as he once did, he'd had easy access to ways to clean himself at least, but it seemed that he wouldn't even be given that much. It wasn't really surprising, given that they haven't even seen fit to grace him with food or water yet either. Just a little aggravating. "Aw," a voice smoothly crooned from the shadow of the rocky cave, "the big bad dragon can't get away from ol' Gabi." Expecting another brutal toss,   
Hanzo hissed, backing against the wall, which only made Sombra laugh. "I guess you can take the dragon out of the fight, but not the fight out of the dragon. Your type tend to be like that, don't you? Here, put this on." Sombra tossed a loose pair of pants and cotton shirt to the _ryu_ , unresponsive to his continued hissing. "Not to say you aren't attractive or anything... I just don't want to try patching you up buck-naked. My draka-loving ass can't stand the sight of it," she mockingly dramatized. Hanzo was still wary as he wrestled his wretchedly miserable body into the too-big clothes, though grateful to have something covering his body. The gratitude was marginal however, seeing that this draka was another one of Talon. 

"Better, yeah?" Hanzo didn't care to respond, just sat up a little straighter as he stifled a pained noise. Sombra snorted at his stubbornness, rising and moving to the front of the cave mouth to stand in the relative light cast down by a cluster of glittering moonstones. They were everywhere in the upper levels, where their light could softly illuminate whatever needed lit. Sombra tapped her foot for a second, then huffed, turned, and slowly scaled the rock to the next cave over. "Just remember that Gabe's only gonna get worse the more you try. If I were you -" Sombra hesitates for a moment, then wildly giggles at something arbitrary. "- and if Gabe were Ame, I'd try to play up on his alpha complex. Sweet talk, promises, whatever. And if you're up to it, maybe try to offer a service of some kind." Sombra stuck her reshifted, angular head out from her crevice again, suggestively raising her heavy brow. "A service of _pleasuring_ nature, if you know what I mean." Hanzo glared and hisses once again.

Sombra cares enough to giggle. "Suit yourself. I'm just trying to give advice here."

\----------

Despite how much he's decided he doesn't like Sombra, Hanzo is at the very least tersely polite when she visits. She usually brings a small scrap of food with her when she jumps into Hanzo's little prison hollow, sometimes a little basin of water, usually attempts some small talk that turns more into Sombra ranting about Gabe's tantrum or Amelie's legs or how she deserved a thank you here and there for all her work. Whenever she ventured into that last topic, Hanzo was quick to reply with a glaring comment that she was part of the organization keeping him captive, to which she always left and replied right back with "But you were the one who thought you could slip in without anyone noticing."

She's currently making a little barricade for Hanzo's small cave, putting her body in front of the cave mouth to block both light and sight from both inside and out while she watches the _ryu_ slowly choke down a bowl of warm soup she'd managed to whip up. Cooking wasn't Sombra's best skill, she'd concede that point - cooking and domestic stuff was more Gabriel's speed - but she at least tried her best and joined in the suffering if it was too bad. Today seemed like one of her better days though. "Why do you insist on this?" Hanzo asks between difficult sips. "You are strangely helpful. The black comes to look at me as he would a dog, but you choose to help me."

"Well, Gabe's probably going to be giving you a hard time soon, so I thought I'd at least make sure you're ready for the big event." Event. That wasn't going to be any good. "What 'event'?" The dragon hisses. Sombra laughs, a metallic, sarcastic sound Hanzo has heard often through the past four days since she began to tend to him. "You don't know? Gabe's got a big party ready to beat you down in front of. He's excited."

"You-!"

"Did absolutely nothing. Listen _cabrón_ , it's in my best interest to keep you as unhurt as possible, but Gabi... He's a different story. Gotta have something to knock some of that demon blood back, right?" As if Hanzo knew anything about western demons. He knew all about the kind from his homeland in the east, yokai and oni and the like, but the demons here in the west were bound to be as different as the dragons. East or west, though, he's never heard of a dragon with demon blood... Sombra smirks, easily able to pick out when someone's been hooked. 

"He's Talon's special project. Before I came around." She winks her dark eye at the _ryu_ as she rises onto all fours. "I'll tell you a bit more later, _azúl_." Then she abruptly snorts.

"If you can't pick it up by running around with him, that is."


End file.
